The leaders of Penn’s campus ministries are coming together on virtual platforms to create ways to support the community while also supporting each other.

“I’ve been so moved and inspired by how our campus ministers, really the whole community, have stepped up to take care of and stay engaged with constituents and community,” says University Chaplain Charles “Chaz” Howard.

Howard heads the Spiritual and Religious Life Center @ Penn. He is keeping in touch with the more than 50 different campus ministries in the Penn Religious Communities Council, covering a full range of religions, faiths, sects, and movements.

Howard and his team, including Associate Chaplain Steve Kocher and Assistant Chaplain Sana Saeed, are available for confidential consultation by email and by phone. They are holding online office hours for students this week, from 1 to 4 p.m. by Zoom or by phone. Office hours will be available in the coming weeks as well. They are posting updated information on the Center’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

Staring Monday, the leaders of the campus ministries will take turns writing a “daily word of encouragement,” either one paragraph or a one-minute recording to provide support and comfort that will be posted to social media and sent via email lists. “These are not sermons. We all need wisdom, levity, and encouragement during a time of suffering,” Howard says. “This is a word of hope from Penn.” @chaz.howard

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